Sijo-Mike Wilson, photo-Jonathan Cooper, appeared in Eastern Structures                                    

Poem-Mike Wilson, photo-Steven Wei, appeared in The Bamboo Hut

Poem-Mike Wilson, photo Fran Jacquier, appeared in   Home Planet News

Poem-Mike Wilson, photo-Ana Curcan, appeared in Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality and the Arts     

You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrigue is part historical novel (the reimagined meeting of Cortes and Montezuma) and part satire, presented in a hallucinatory maze of magic mushrooms. The book got rave reviews from literary critics, but at times I had trouble sorting out the Aztec names and politics. The book is meta and self-consciously clever. Here’s a collection of reviews in Book Marks:

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray is a BFB – literally, being 643 pages, and metaphorically in the sense of how deeply the author takes us into the characters of an Irish family in a small town whose prosperous life falls apart due to an economic depression and the unraveling of their own inner lives which, themselves, have tragic origins. Some reviewers call it “rollicking” and a “tragi-comedy,” but, to me, it’s tragedy all the way, epic and intimate, told by an author who cares about his characters and makes us care about them, too. This novel was nominated for the Booker Prize, which was won by fellow Irish writer Paul Lynch for Prophet Song, but I think The Bee Sting is better. The writing is both “literary” and accessible and of even, high quality throughout. Each family member has a well-developed plot arc strong enough to carry a book of its own. I’d like to see The Bee Sting made into to a multi-season Netflix series. The Washington Post calls it an instant classic:

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray is a BFB – literally, being 643 pages, and metaphorically in the sense of how deeply the author takes us into the characters of an Irish family in a small town whose prosperous life falls apart due to an economic depression and the unraveling of their own inner lives which, themselves, have tragic origins. Some reviewers call it “rollicking” and a “tragi-comedy,” but, to me, it’s tragedy all the way, epic and intimate, told by an author who cares about his characters and makes us care about them, too. This novel was nominated for the Booker Prize, which was won by fellow Irish writer Paul Lynch for Prophet Song, but I think The Bee Sting is better. The writing is both “literary” and accessible and of even, high quality throughout. Each family member has a well-developed plot arc strong enough to carry a book of its own. I’d like to see The Bee Sting made into to a multi-season Netflix series. The Washington Post calls it an instant classic:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/08/22/bee-sting-booker-prize-longlist-review

Poem-Mike Wilson, photo-Eric Muhr  “Sonnet Psalm of a Sensitive Person,” appeared in Gyroscope

Western Lane is a short debut novel by Chetna Maroo, winner of The Paris Review’s Plimpton Prize for Fiction in 2022. Eleven-year-old Gopi has been trained by her father to be an excellent squash player. When her mother dies, her father ramps up the training, and the absence of her mother is ever-present. Other characters include Gopi’s two sisters and extended family members, as well as Ged, a boy who plays squash (upon whom Gopi has a crush), and Ged’s mother (upon whom the father may have a crush). The interactions between the characters is so understated that the nuances of it become overwhelming. Delicate, powerful writing in this coming-of-age story that culminates in a squash tournament. I recommend it. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/chetna-maroo/western-lane

Poem by Mike Wilson, photo by Bunny Wilson